Sean David Morton sued

marsbase · Post by **marsbase** » 03-04-2010 11:40 PM

Hi, Pirates This was in today's NY Post. This frequent C2C guest sued by the SEC:

" Sean David Morton -- who bills himself as "America's Prophet" -- "falsely touted his historical success in psychically predicting the various rises and falls of the market," according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. "

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/sec_ ... z0hH2X9xkd

Breandan · Post by **Breandan** » 03-05-2010 12:02 AM

Oy vey. Not too surprised, frankly.

Here's the deal- yes, psychics exist, the phenomenon IS real, however, 90%+ of those claiming to be psychic are either delusion, frauds, or both. Of the remaining 10% or so, many of them have legitimate abilities, but often are pressured or otherwise moved into "faking it" during moments where their abilities aren't strong enough or falter, either because they are under pressure from demanding clients, observers, or just don't want to appear to be unreliable. Very, very few will ever admit that they cannot do something, that their abilities are limited, or that they cannot do analytical scanning or viewing, which is unfortunate. If they were honest about their limitations and didn't try to fill in the gaps with BS or guesswork, the real scientific research into the phenomenon would be decades ahead of where we are now.

I'm not sure where Morton falls into on the above scale, but any time someone claims accuracy rates like "90%" or Dames' infamous claim of 100% accuracy, and it doesn't pan out in review, it is cause for dismissing them as either delusional or a fraud. See, one of the bad things for self-proclaimed psychics who appear on C2C and get cocky- we can always go back and listen to a compilation of their appearances over the years, listen to their claims, and check them... so far, the cockiest- like Dames- rarely reach double-digit accuracy (in fact, Dames' accuracy rating was determined to be BELOW probability by a watchdog group that reviewed all of his claims). Yet, people will still listen to them, and defend them fanatically, which even FURTHER mucks up the understanding of the phenomenon. Zealots rabidly defend these people because A) their message is something the zealot believes themselves, and if the psychic(s) preaching it is/are discredited, they feel they, too, will be discredited, and/or B) they have promoted the psychic(s) to others, and don't want to look like a fool, and will bend over backwards to try to justify their support.

I actually thought Morton might be pretty accurate when I first heard him, and I supported him. Until I did my research. Finding that his claims of high accuracy rates (the exact percentage differed from show to show, but was never lower than 85%) didn't match the predictions that should've come to pass, I ceased supporting him and moved on. No animosity, no fanaticism, just a bad call. So, the fact that people bought into his message does not make them idiots or fools, it means they believed him, and didn't do the research to verify his claims.

So, as with all things, folks- ALWAYS VERIFY CLAIMS! If you hear a psychic, an ad, a medicine's claim, etc. ad nauseum, always verify it.

Joolz · Post by **Joolz** » 03-05-2010 03:52 AM

Your link appears to be dead, marsbase. I got a "Page Not Found" error.

But anyhow, here's a few other links about this story:

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/05/busin ... ychic.html

Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-201 ... theadlines

SEC website: http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleas ... r21433.htm

racehorse · Post by **racehorse** » 03-05-2010 09:07 AM

Admittedly, I like Sean David Morton and hope this case is without merit. Having said that and announcing my predispositions regarding this, I think there are few better ways for those who may be so inclined to attempt to discredit psychics in general than to pursue actions like this, which will receive much publicity, regardless of outcome.

Do not prejudge this or any other lawsuit simply because allegations are made or an action is filed!

Saharaka · Post by **Saharaka** » 03-05-2010 02:06 PM

Hmmmm....being psychic and all I wonder why he didnt see this coming?

SETIsLady · Post by **SETIsLady** » 03-05-2010 04:03 PM

Saharaka wrote: Hmmmm....being psychic and all I wonder why he didnt see this coming?

badspell · Post by **badspell** » 03-05-2010 09:50 PM

Psychic abilities are personal. Not to be exploited.

Most likely off-topic but ask yourself this question. If you met a Bigfoot family in your backyard, would you tell anyone? or possibly an encounter with life forms not exactly human would you put them in societies eye?
I can only assume the truth lies with the silent.

Post by **Linnea** » 03-06-2010 06:44 AM

Jeez! He was raking in millions. Who knew?

racehorse · Post by **racehorse** » 03-06-2010 01:56 PM

Sean David Morton Statement

March 04, 2010

We received the following statement from Sean David Morton:

The news today, that I had to hear in a phone call from a reporter, about the SEC filing a CIVIL action against my wife and I in a New York Federal court, has come as a total shock and a complete surprise. It also shows how brazen and desperate the SEC is, in putting out a PRESS RELEASE and announcing it to the global media, before we were even notified. They are going after PSYCHICS now who predict the markets?

The Civil Action demands as "Relief" that I not engage in Foreign Exchange trading again, which the SEC does not regulate, and that we "Disgorge any ill-gotten gains" of which there are none, as my wife and I are facing personal bankruptcy and incurred the single largest losses of any of the investors involved. We LOST our money right along with everyone else. The rest of the complaint is a litany of lies and baseless allegations. And again, massive losses in our ForEx trading a program were incurred when our FX trader REFUSED to take my advice and follow my guidelines.

We cooperated in every way we knew how with the SEC. However, the harassment from them got so bad that I was forced to file a Federal lawsuit to make them prove their jurisdiction and authority over something they clearly did NOT regulate. I see this action now by them as clear cut revenge for the actions I have taken against them and their continued abuse of jurisdiction and authority.

I am shaken to my core by all this. I have never stolen from anyone in my life, and I cannot even fathom how someone could risk incurring such karma for base, short term monetary gain. I am sure it happens every day, but I firmly believe as the Apostle Paul said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

Anyone who knows me and knows my body of work from listening to this show over the past 20 years knows that I am all about the truth and doing what is right, and that is what my wife and I have done ALL ALONG, and we will be fully vindicated from these baseless allegations.

Thank you all again for your love and support.

Blessings

Sean-David Morton

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/article/s ... -statement

SETIsLady · Post by **SETIsLady** » 03-06-2010 02:21 PM

Further, according to the complaint, Morton, who did not seek accreditation status from the Delphi Investment Group investors, placed investor funds in the bank accounts of one of the Entities, and that Morton and/or Melissa Morton, commingled the investors’ funds among the Entities’ accounts. Additionally, according to the complaint, while Morton promised investors that all of their funds would be used to trade foreign currencies, in fact, he invested only about half of the funds with foreign currency trading firms. Unbeknownst to the investors, instead of investing all of the funds into foreign currency trading firms, Morton, and/or Melissa Morton, diverted some of the investor funds. For instance, the Mortons diverted at least 0,000 of investor funds to their own nonprofit religious organization, Prophecy Research Institute (PRI). Melissa Morton and PRI are named as relief defendants (Relief Defendants) in the complaint.http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleas ... r21433.htm

This is the part of the suit that caught my attention, and would like to hear him explain. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

SETIsLady · Post by **SETIsLady** » 03-06-2010 02:27 PM

I did a little googling and found someone that he approached for investing.

Sean David Morton a Fraud?

http://forextrading.about.com/b/2010/03 ... -fraud.htm

Joolz · Post by **Joolz** » 03-06-2010 03:06 PM

Well, I think it's unfortunate that he is -- or claims to be -- a psychic. Unfortunate for other (true) psychics. But if these allegations are true, then he deserves what he gets. I have always enjoyed listening to him, because he was entertaining, BUT I was also always a bit on the skeptical side regarding him. Something about him felt too self-serving, to me. He may BE truly psychic, and if so and if these allegations are true, then it seems to me he was using his gifts unethically. There is nothing wrong with using one's gifts for personal gain, IMO, but not to essentially rip people off. Then again, he may be a total fraud. That would be unfortunate for all psychics in the sense of giving them a "bad name," and could create even more skepticism than ought to be for people who are truly psychic and are using their gifts to try to help people. Sad all the way around, really.

marsbase · Post by **marsbase** » 03-06-2010 11:31 PM

Joolz wrote: Well, I think it's unfortunate that he is -- or claims to be -- a psychic. Unfortunate for other (true) psychics....

I agree here. Thanks, all, for a lively discussion. I take no sides in this matter, just bringing to attention. I was shocked to read the article and had enjoyed hearing Sean in the past on C2C.

As for the outcome, I hate to use the phrase, but I suppose we have to 'stay tuned.'

DisneyFreak96 · Post by **DisneyFreak96** » 03-25-2010 01:12 AM

Remembering the many discussions on alt.disney.disneyland in the early 90s about the importance of stopping at In-and-Out when making a trip to Disneyland, I still can't quite visualize the SEC coming out for that purpose. Then again, maybe they were rabid usenet junkies...

From the NYTimes

Neither of the Mortons could be reached for comment on Thursday. But as part of a 2009 lawsuit aimed at halting an S.E.C. investigation, the Mortons argued that they were the targets of “two (or more) dishonest and incompetent S.E.C. employees, who apparently need to justify a trip to California in order to visit Disneyland and eat In And Out Burgers at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Then again, the suit was dropped. I'm beginning to wonder if it was tickets to Sea World they found in the possession of the two (or more) dishonest S.E.C.employees.

Bobbi Snow · Post by **Bobbi Snow** » 03-25-2010 01:48 AM

As just a plain ol' every-day psychic, he was better than average, in my personal estimation. But when he seemed to be pressured into giving financial advice, I began to worry, because even when psychics CAN see the future, they can never be certain what time-line they are seeing. The ones I've used ALWAYS have said, "Time is fluid, and this is what I see, but I can't say how soon, or whether it can be changed; you have to decide that for yourself." And I've always used what they've said as a potential warning... not something written on stone.